The colorful Creole patterns and Louisiana-inspired art adorning directional signs in downtown Baton Rouge are doing more than helping people find their way — they’re drawing the eye of the international community. The Baton Rouge Downtown Development District received the 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award in Transportation from the International Downtown Association in a ceremony held Sept. 13 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.The award honored the implementation of the Wayfinding Signage Project, which has constructed or updated more than 81 navigational elements — maps, signs and kiosks — in downtown Baton Rouge.Brian Pearce, of the architecture and planning firm Sasaki & Associates in Boston, one of the companies that developed the plan, said the motto during the   design process was to create “street art” out of signs.”At their most basic level, [the signs] provide direction and orientation to places downtown,” Pearce said. “But there is another layer — in working with the city to be infused with its culture, patterns and colors.”Featuring distinct graphics, descriptions of cultural history and pictures of prominent musicians and political figures, the signs give vacationers and people attending business conventions a taste of Baton Rouge and Louisiana culture.Several local artists helped the Downtown Development District design the signs. A citizens committee was also formed to figure out what aspects of Baton Rouge culture the signs should reflect.The wayfinding project is the first phase of the Downtown Visitors’ Amenity Plan, which aims to make downtown Baton Rouge more amenable to first-time visitors.Rex Cabaniss, of WHL Architecture, another company that worked closely with the Downtown Development District on the project, surveyed several cities around the country before beginning work on the wayfinding signs.”I found that signs communicated the directions but rarely had other qualities,” Cabaniss said. “We wanted our signs to have elements of arts and culture with the color, shape and form that would achieve the level of street art and be able to stand alone as sculpture.”Two kiosks, near the Shaw Center and in Lafayette Park, are the largest of the signs. They include complete downtown maps and lists of attractions like the USS Kidd and the Old State Capitol.Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, accepted the award.”I’m happy to bring home the gold for downtown Baton Rouge,” Rhorer said. “It motivates us to keep doing high-quality work downtown.”The International Downtown Association recognizes the planning, design, marketing, communication and other qualities of downtown areas around the world.”[Downtown Baton Rouge] is the best of the best,” Rhorer said.The project started last spring and was completed near the end of the summer.  Pearce said Sasaki is in the process of designing similar wayfinding signs for the University’s campus. University officials couldn’t be reached for comment by press time, but Pearce said the project is in its early stages and is likely to be completed within a year.—-Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]